Large Binocular Telescope

The Large Binocular Telescope is a major optical observatory on Mount Graham in southeastern Arizona, using two 8.4-meter mirrors on a shared base to combine strong light-gathering power with very high angular resolution. Developed through an international partnership led by institutions in Italy, the United States, and Germany, it was dedicated in 2004 and became fully operational in 2008. Its active and adaptive optics have achieved exceptionally sharp ground-based performance, at some wavelengths exceeding the Hubble Space Telescope. Although its construction was fiercely contested by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and environmental groups, it went forward and became one of North America’s most distinctive optical telescopes.

Swift Trail Junction, Arizona · United States